15 Toronto architectural gems under threat

500 Lake Shore West

What The Loblaw Groceteria Company warehouse, a 1927 four-storey art deco classic, and one of the first buildings erected on reclaimed land at the west end of the Toronto Harbour.

Proposed Grocery store and offices.

Backdrop Heritage Preservation Services has reluctantly signed off on plans to demolish the building and rebuild the south and west walls with salvaged materials. That accommodation was made after Heritage pushed unsuccessfully for some form of adaptive reuse for the building à la Maple Leaf Gardens. The wrinkle: Loblaw originally agreed to preserve the south and west walls but backed out, citing soil and engineering studies suggesting the structural integrity of the building is compromised.

191 Guildwood Parkway

What Guild Inn Park and Gardens, former hotel and Depression-era artist colony.

Proposed A raft of plans that have gone nowhere - everything from spa hotel to cultural heritage institute to a low-rise seniors' condo.

Backdrop Taken over from its original owners by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority in 1978, the pseudo-Georgian inn fell into disrepair and was eventually boarded up in 2001. Fire claimed the artists' studios. A hotel addition built in 1965 was demolished. The irony: the grounds have become a sculpture garden full of the remnants of important Toronto buildings that were renovated or demolished.

2525-2541 Lake Shore West and 5-9 Douglas

What Mimico Estates, a collection of early-20th-century Queen Anne revival buildings hidden behind the World War Two-era Amedeo Garden Court apartment block. A rare surviving waterfront estate built by industrialist Benjamin Ormsby and later by Dufferin Construction Company founder James Franceschini, who acquired the property in 1925.

Proposed Demolition and relocation of heritage properties under Mimico-by-the-Lake Project 20/20 "revitalization" plans once thought shelved but have recently been resurrected.

Backdrop High-rise condo creep making a mess of the Humber Bay area further east along Lake Shore is just around the corner.

580-596 Church and 67, 69 Gloucester

What One of the last notable groupings of heritage buildings in the gay village, including the 1878 Second Empire Robert Simpson residence between Dundonald and Gloucester.

Proposed A 25-storey condo.

Backdrop Developer Church 18 Holdings put a six-month hold on the plan in February, citing concerns expressed by locals and the city's Planning Department, not to mention heritage types who are recommending council reject the project. The developer's original proposal involves preserving the Simpson residence but razing the other buildings save for the facade of one or two.dies suggesting the structural integrity of the building is compromised.

21 Grenville

Backdrop The original development plan for the site proposed the relocation of one of the last examples of Second Empire architecture still standing in the Yonge and College neighbourhood. The latest: incorporating the house into "retail uses" proposed on the site.

80 Bell Estate

What Mid-19th-century Georgian-style farmhouse with Gothic revival elements, home of the descendants of William Bell for a century.

Proposed Demolition of an addition at the back of the farmhouse; conversion of the interior into two condo units; construction of 11 condominium townhouses on the property, plus parking spaces.

Backdrop Heritage Preservation Services has given its blessing to the conversion, arguing the redevelopment proposal is "largely in keeping" with Standards And Guidelines For The Conservation Of Historic Places In Canada.

308-314 Jarvis and 225 Mutual

Backdrop Heritage preservationists, while lamenting the potential loss of another significant architectural landmark on Jarvis, are also concerned about the adverse impact of the shadow cast by the proposed tower on another heritage monument - the Allan Gardens conservatory across the street.

100 Queen's Park Circle

What McLaughlin Planetarium, a stellar 1968 creation built to mark Canada's centennial - opened one year late.

Proposed Options are being discussed, according to one member of the working group set up to find an appropriate use. Condo plans have been publicly floated twice - once after the University of Toronto took ownership from the ROM in 2009 and plans to demolish the building to expand the university's law and business faculties were leaked.

Backdrop Closed by the Harris government in 1995. Tipping point: development pressure making its way down Avenue and along Bloor.

6-16 Glen Road/4-76 & 100 Howard/603-611 Sherbourne

Proposed Massive redevelopment of four residential towers of 43, 50, 53 and 56 storeys. Total number of units: 1,840. The demolition of a number of vacant Victorian manses (some facades would be preserved) is required to make room.

14 St. Matthews

What One of Canada's best examples of modernist architecture, the Riverdale Hospital half-round.

Proposed Wrecking ball any month now.

Backdrop This 1963 nine-storey, lost to a bitter OMB battle in 2007, has been crowded out by Bridgepoint Health's expansive redevelopment near the northwest corner of Broadview and Gerrard. The good news: the distinctive mushroom canopies at the hospital entrance and Saico glass tile wall mural by Margit Gatterbauer in the hospital foyer will be saved.

60 Mill

Proposed A 28-storey "point tower" above the existing six-storey Rack House D building to house an 88-suite hotel and restaurant.

Backdrop A "significant departure," says the city report on the proposal, from what was originally envisioned for the Distillery District in the original Gooderham and Worts Heritage Master Plan. Not to mention the King-Parliament Secondary Plan. But the domino effect is already in play in the District. See the 32-storey condo already completed at Parliament and Mill. See also two more towers, one of 40 storeys nearing completion and the other of 36 just south of Tank House Lane.

440 Unwin

What Hulking expression of Toronto's industrial past. The Richard L. Hearn Generating Station, an abandoned industrial powerhouse on the waterfront, is a fave hangout of urban explorers.

Proposed Everything from motion picture studio to sports complex to ice rink. More recently, it looked like it could get swallowed up by the Fords' port lands backdoor dealing.

Backdrop Owned by the province, but the lease was recently taken over by prominent developer with Tory ties Mario Cortellucci. Caught in no man's land, the property forms part of the water's edge but is not formally part of Waterfront Toronto's port lands mandate.

129 St. Clair West

What The stone neo-Gothic Deer Park United Church built in 1912, oldest surviving church in the Deer Park neighbourhood.

Proposed Removal of substantial portions of the building, including the 1931 Sunday school wing, the transept and the roof structure above the nave, to transform the existing building into an outdoor courtyard and make room for a 27-storey condo with retail space and six townhouses.

Backdrop Church officials opposed attempts by the city to designate the property as historically significant. The Toronto Preservation Board has recommended that city council turn down the proposed alterations.

1006 Bloor West

What The 1937 Paradise Theatre

Proposed Demolition; closed since 2006. The owners submitted an application to the city in January stating their intention to tear down the pre-World War II art deco (and art moderne east wing) cultural landmark.

Backdrop It's been listed on the inventory of heritage properties since 2007 and last month was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. Also notable: designed by Benjamin Brown, one of Toronto's earliest practising Jewish architects in the city.